MINOX 10 x 43 HG Binoculars

MINOX 10 x 43 HG with NEW Extended Field of View.Have MINOX Hit the Big Time?

When I first opened the boxes of EKA knives something was instantly apparent. They are all very, very sharp - straight from the factory. Now, I mean shaving sharp! They will shave the hairs from your arm in a single sweep, no problem at all. Kids; don’t try this at home – or in your local retail shop either!

When a company has been making products for over a century they've had plenty of time to get things right. EKA is a Swedish knife making company with a very long knife making tradition.

The steel that they use on these three models is a particular stainless, called 12C27 grade, that is hardened to an impressive 57-59 (HRC) Rockwell®. That is pretty hard for a folding knife and you’ll need a good quality stone to sharpen one. On the positive side, once sharp, it will stay that way much longer. In practical terms, you should be able to skin and bone-out a whole stag without having to touch the blade.

The blades are bolted to the handle with two types of “hexi” nut. The correct keys are also provided with each knife. That means you can easily adjust the blade swing tension and remove the blade altogether for cleaning if you need to.

The three models come with a tidy Cordura® nylon sheath and the two folding models; Swede 8 (8 cm blade) and Swede 10 (10cm blade), both come with a shiny aluminium carabineer that attachs to the back of the sheath for added security. To me, the carabineer looks a bit cheap in the gift box up against the quality of the knives. However, from a practical viewpoint, this may save your knife if the clip on the back of the sheath lets you down.

The EKA Swing Blade model looks like a fixed-blade with a 10cm blade. However, it actually has an extra folding blade, that rotates between the traditional drop-point to a specialised 8 cm gutting blade, and simply spins with the snap of a stud that is positioned up near the blade hinge. The gutting blade also proved to be an excellent skinning shape and, when tried on a Sika hind, the blunted tip worked very well and did not puncture the meat or gut cavity lining. The added advantage was that, because the main blade was folded away for skinning, it kept its edge even longer as the cutting of deer skin and hair can be pretty hard on fine-edged blades. The EKA Swing Blade also comes with the option of a high-visability Blaze Orange handle. A super-handy feature for hunting, as often dark coloured knives are left on the forest floor after finishing a butchering job.

The handles themselves are made with a soft grip Karton® (rubber) material. This non-slip feel gives great grip when wet. Another excellent feature.

All in all, a great product, backed with a 10 year warranty.
Highly recommended!

These products are available through Hunting & Fishing stores: Westgate, Takanini, Rotorua, Taupo, Manawhatu, as well as Serious Shooters in Auckland, Taihape Sports and Mainly Hunting in Wellington. More info at www.kiwinordic.com
Does the Editor think that MINOX of Germany is up there with the big players in optics with their APO-HG and HG line of binoculars?

The press release form that accompanied the MINOX HG 10 x 43 binoculars stated that they, “top the league in binocular engineering with their pin-sharp optics and natural colour rendition.” A pretty tall statement indeed.

So, when comparing with the big names in European optics such as Zeiss, Lecia and Swarvroski, how does MINOX rate? Well, let’s take a look…

INTRODUCTION

We are living in an age of rapidly moving technology like has never been seen before. There are some fantastic developments in optics coming out at more affordable prices and this pair of 10 x 43’s is a real beauty.

THE FEATURES

We like to keep this as a practical hunting magazine rather than get too wound up with techno garb plus, when you get up there with the very best in gear, often improvements made are only very small because the products are just so good anyway. So, if I was to explain in detail the 21-layers of lens coatings it wouldn’t mean much. However, I will say, they are bloody sharp and clear!

The HG 10 x 43’s have a nice rubber armoured, protective shell that extends about 5mm past the objective lens to soften the edges, a nice feature.

The eye diopter adjustment wheel (to adjust each separately) lifts to turn and drops back to lock nicely into place.

The focus knob is very smooth and the wheel turns less than one full rotation in going from closest to most distant focusing. It also has the addition of a distance scale on this knob that gives the HG binocular the unique function of acting as a range meter out to 50 metres. At first I found this a little gimmicky, but for a bow-hunter it may have some practical use, plus it gives you a quick reference point before looking through them as to what distance they are currently focused on.

The body is made from magnesium to keep the weight down and they are filled with argon (better than nitrogen?) to give a waterproof rating of 5 metres deep.

With its optical design it gives the user 17 percent more contrast than before and a light transmission increased to 92 percent from all those new lens coatings.

The field of view is now 6.5 degrees.

THE BENEFITS

In low-light conditions performance was superb, equaling or bettering any mid-size binocular that I can remember using in the past, and I’ve tried some good ones.

The eye relief is excellent, with retractable eyecups with four exceptionally smooth click-stop positions. Even if you don’t normally wear glasses you’ll like this feature when wearing sunglasses, or just adjusting to what suits your eyes.

The size is very practical and the weight not too excessive at 650g, considering that you are carrying all those expensive aspheric glass lenses around. This is claimed to be the lightest weight binoculars in their class, and I don’t doubt it. Weight is the big trade-off when you jump up in quality.

The resolution was excellent. It is this ability to resolve detail that is one of the benefits of top quality optics.

THE ULTIMATE TEST

Now, beware! Do not try this with ANY optics! Especially those under $3000! Most will fail regardless of the manufacturer’s warranty. I have fogged three very expensive scopes in one afternoon doing this.

I submersed them in water for a few minutes and then froze them to around -5 degrees, so the water drops were solid. No problems so far, most good quality optics will take this treatment. Then I placed them on a nice hot rock in full sunlight so the water thawed, then checked for fogging. Finally, back into the fridge and another check for fogging.
You see, what you are doing is contracting and then expanding the metal parts, with the addition of water vapour that can pass through where liquid water cannot.

I’m pleased to say the MINOX passed with flying colours, no problem.


CONCLUSION

MINOX put out a vast (and confusing) range of binoculars. They have the BV series (best value) and the BL series (lighter weight polycarbonate). Then there’s the BD series of aluminium bodied binoculars, followed by the HG (high grade) like this test pair, and then the top-of-the-line APO HG with apochromatically correct glass lenses (triple lenses at 3-different wavelengths for colour-fringe-correction) and more coatings.

The great thing about MINOX is their value for money. They rate up there above the mid-priced gear, as well they should, but they still price themselves well under many of the other top brands and they have a pretty comparable product. As a company, I feel the brand image falls back because they cover too wide a price range of optics. It only took me a few minutes on the net to find a pair of MINOX 10 x 25’s at 75 EUR. Once you sell the cheap stuff, it’s hard to get the really big bucks, no matter how great the product is.

I think that these binoculars are a great buy for someone looking at the upper end of the mid-priced field, for quality comparable to the high-end binoculars.

THE PRICE

With the price rising with each different series, it’s up to each individual just what they NEED verses what they WANT, compared to what they can AFFORD. The price rise from the HG to the APO HG 10 x 43’s is about another $1,000. However, for that you do get the latest APO glass from Schott along with a 'nano' moisture / grease repellent coating on the objective lenses, plus MINOX have at least dulled down the colour on the bright focus wheel and diopter adjustment.


Lastly, remember that when the price is long forgotten good quality remains.

Available at leading shooting stores. For more information visit www.huntingandshooting.com.